Dog
The Dog is the secondary playable character of Secret of Evermore. A normal dog owned by the Hero living in Podunk, he accompanies his owner to Evermore, where he takes on a variety of different forms. Appearance and Personality The dog's normal breed is unspecified, but may be some sort of terrier. As the player moves through the regions of Evermore, the dog's breed changes. In Prehistoria it is a large, wolf-like beast; in Antiqua it is a sleek greyhound; in Gothica it becomes a pink poodle; and in Omnitopia it becomes a robotic dog styled after a toaster. It is not specified why the dog's form changes, and the boy usually takes it in stride, just saying "he hasn't been himself lately" when introducing his dog to others. The dog is the hero's faithful companion through Evermore, never abandoning him and fighting along his side. However, the dog tends to misbehave often, getting the hero into trouble with its antics. The dog has a particular hatred of cats: it was a cat that provoked the dog into finding the machine into Evermore in the first place. As a running joke in the game, often when the hero is engaged in prolonged conversation with an NPC, a cat will run by and the dog will give chase, then return to the hero's side after presumably losing track of the cat off-screen. Even in the ending of the game, the dog lingers before approaching the machine to return to Podunk, looking for a cat it had chased earlier. Story In the year 1995, the dog accompanied the hero to a movie in Podunk. On leaving the cinema, it chased a cat down the street, and ran into Professor Ruffleberg's Mansion. The boy pursued his dog and found Ruffleberg's secret lab. Here the dog chewed on some of the wires powering the machine, causing it to activate and send the two of them into Evermore. In Evermore the dog was sent into an escape pod, and the two crashed on Prehistoria when the pod malfunctioned. When the dog found the boy, transformed into its new form, the boy questioned if this beast was really his dog, and threw a stick for it to fetch to test it. The dog instead retrieved an old bone, but it was good enough for the boy, and the two set out on their adventure. When the Volcano erupted, the boy and the dog were separated, and the dog ended up in Nobilia. In its new greyhound form, it resembled the city's sacred dog statue, and was hailed as a god. The boy arrived in town just as a meeting was held to announce the arrival of the "sacred dog" and a fight in Nobilia Colosseum was to be held in its honor. The dog returned to its owner, inadvertently selecting the hero to fight Vigor. In Gothica, the dog was forced to wait outside while the hero attended an exhibition, and was taken by one of the exhibition hands and dressed up in a pig mask to serve as one of the shows, a "pig-dog." The dog broke out and fled down Ivor Tower Alley where a pig race was taking place. The dog handily won the race, earning the hero a dinner with Queen Bluegarden. The dog meanwhile was taken to Pierre to be cooked into the main course, but it fled the kitchen and crashed the banquet by leaping onto the table. The furious queen ordered both the hero and the dog imprisoned. Gameplay The dog automatically accompanies the hero as a secondary party member. The player can switch command between the two with the Select button. The dog attacks enemies by biting and clawing them, and like the hero's weapons, will gain aptitude as it levels up, letting it use charged attacks. The dog runs faster than the hero and can deal heavy damage with its attacks, but obviously has no ranged capabilities. In addition to combat support, by holding the L or R pad, the dog can be commanded to sniff for hidden alchemy ingredients nearby. The dog will also sometimes sniff out NPCs or items in pots. The dog carries over its attack skill experience over to any of its forms, meaning that you can gain attack skill experience for the dog in any region. The player is able to talk to NPCs while commanding the dog, and they will react differently to the dog than to the hero; some NPCs give the dog items they would not give if spoken to by the hero. If the dog is KO'd, it cannot sprint, attack, or sniff for alchemy ingredients, but will continue to follow the hero. The dog has a lot higher Stats and stat growth than the Hero, but can only wear 1 piece of armor and is unable to wield any weapons. The dog has only slightly lower Magic Defense than the hero. The dog does not gain any experience if the player is only controlling the boy and the dog is gone. It happens multiple times that the dog is lost and that the boy has to continue alone. For more info, go here. The dog's gameplay changes significantly while in Omnitopia. Its normal attack is replaced with a volley of laser shots from its eyes, and its charged attacks summon a laser cannon from its back to shoot large laser blasts at enemies. It can also sprint indefinitely, and has a chance to counter dodged attacks with a charged attack automatically. The dog is able to go into space, critical in the Main District where the player must take control of it and use it to destroy the Spherebots. It also gains 250 extra defense and 80 attack when in Toaster form. Dog Casting Exploit When the player switches control to the Dog, the mechanics of casting Alchemy changes a bit. Whilst normally the maximum amount of offensive/dark alchemy the Hero could launch on a specific enemy is limited to 2-3 casts, when controlling the Dog that becomes up to 8 times. This is incredibly strong and makes almost all boss fights very easy, given that the player has sufficient ingredients for their casts. This exploit is not only limited to offensive/dark alchemy however. It can also be used for defensive/light alchemy. This way the player can grant all needed Status buffs like Atlas, Aura, Energize, Pixie Dust etc. and/or healing required (Heal/Super Heal, etc.), in one combined casting animation. Do note that the Hero or Dog can never be under the effects of 5 or more Status buffs. This exploit should be used in any playthrough or speedrun to maximize efficiency. Some players may find it unfair or a form of cheating and may choose not to abuse this exploit, however. Dog Sniff Exploit The dog, when not controlled by the player, will regularly and randomly begin sniffing, even if no ingredients are nearby. Although it is random and can sometimes be tedious to rely on, this allows for some unique interactions, skips and exploits. There are many instances in the game where this exploit can be used/abused. Here is a list (more information can be found on their respective pages) of minor and major ones in chronological order: * Skipping the long talk and meeting with Elizabeth in Fire Eyes' Village, which is needed to gain access to the Eastern Jungle. This allows the player to also skip receiving Flash if they proceed too far into the game. * Passing over quicksand points in Sandpits. * Passing over collapse-points inside the Bug Cave in the Bugmuck. This can be used to collect ingredients without triggering a collapse and losing time, returning to the original location. * Passing over rock boulders which would normally require Levitate to allow trespassing. This is very difficult to perform. This allows the player to skip the boss fight with Viper Commander and Salabog. * Not triggering the boss fight with Viper Commander for the Horn Spear. This can be useful if the player does not intend to fight this boss (yet) and wants to collect the ingredients in the area. (Ingredient benefit) * Walking over invisible paths if the player does not have Revealer (or want to use it) or know the exact path. * Walking over switch-tiles in the Hall of Collosia, without triggering their effects. * Walking over water sinking bridges in the Great Pyramid without sinking them. * Skipping the encounter with Horace's evil twin where the player gives away their Diamond Eyes. * Passing over the return-point at Antiqua Waterfall Area. (Serves no actual benefit) * Entering the middle of the Chessboard without triggering the boss fight with FootKnight. (Ingredient benefit) * Entering the area where the fight with Verminator takes place, without triggering the fight and the boss spawn. (Serves no actual benefit) * Passing over the collapse-points of bridges and paths at Gomi Tower. * Passing over parts of the Heating Chamber. * Passing through the Alarm Room. The player will have to perform the exploit twice (at each entrance) to prevent them from being locked inside the room with the Guardbots. Even if the player does this, the lower 2 hatches will still open, releasing 2 Guardbots, if the player walks over the horizontal location. A third performance of the exploit can also prevent this. Be careful though, the player can sometimes get stuck inside the laser beam wall if performing incorrectly. * Skipping the final lethal Flowering Death in the Greenhouse. With most of these exploits, the knockback of the Bazooka can also be used, proving to be a lot more reliable and easier to use. The biggest problem with this is that the Bazooka is only acquired (and usable) late into the game, in Ebon Keep. Reviving The Dog can be revived in multiple ways. A Dog Biscuit will put the dog at 100 HP. The Revive formula will do the same but at (0 + 50 × Level) HP. Using Time Warp will also revive the dog. Using forced heals such as buying a fish from the fishmonger at Nobilia Marketplace or heals received after a boss fight (Mammoth Graveyard) will also work. Healing at an Inn works as well. An oasis in the Desert of Doom will also revive and fully restore all HP. Movespeed The dog has varying movespeed values, depending on which form the dog is (which region) and wether or not the dog is running. Each form also has extra benefits. For more info about the Jaguar Ring and how running works, visit the page dedicated to it. The following table displays the time it takes for the dog to walk or run 1 screen distance horizontally (from left to right). This table points out a few things: *The dog in wolf form is the slowest form when he walks but is almost the fastest form (behind toaster form) when running. For this reason, the wolf form can be used to run and travel the most distance (faster than the boy). *The dog in greyhound form is faster than the poodle on average and when running. He is also slightly faster than the boy when running. *The dog in poodle form is as fast as the boy and faster than the greyhound when walking. When running he is slightly slower than the greyhound. *The dog in toaster form is the fastest form when walking and running. It is only slightly slower when walking, than the poodle and boy when running. *All dog forms can increase their speed by running in a certain direction. It is unknown why this is the case and may be unintended. Trivia *It is possible to have the dog in wolf form, with a weird color palette, in Omnitopia. This happens when the player goes up the A4 beam in Sidney Ruffleberg's lab. This is only possible by cheating using a no-clip code, however. *The color palette changes again, to red, when the dog is the Greenhouse or in the Storage Room. This is because the lights are turned off in these rooms (lights are off by default in Omnitopia). *The dog switches to his normal Toaster form when the player enters any room in Omnitopia where the lights are not turned off (lights are on). *The dog is sometimes able to collect certain items like the Energy Core, open the cocoon left behind by Thraxx/Coleoptera, all Omnitopia containers (eg. Cryo-Blast ammo in the Greenhouse), etc. Normally, the dog is unable to loot chests/containers. Gallery File:Dog - Normal.png|The Dog's normal form in Podunk File:Dog - Wolf.png|The Dog's form in Prehistoria File:Dog - Greyhound.png|The Dog's form in Antiqua File:Dog - Poodle.png|The Dog's form in Gothica File:Dog - Robot.png|The Dog's form in Omnitopia File:SoE_Dog2.png|Artwork of Prehistoria form File:SoE_Dog3.png|Artwork of Antiqua form File:SoE_Dog4.png|Artwork of Gothica form File:SoE_Dog5.png|Artwork of Omnitopia form File:DogOmnitopia2.png|CG art of Omnitopia form Site Navigation Category:Characters